Derek O'Brien urges BJP to not 'bulldoze bills through Parliament' in Monsoon session

Ahead of the Parliament's monsoon session, Trinamool MP Derek O' Brein on Sunday urged the BJP government to not bulldoze legislation through Parliament. Stating that 'legislation is serious business', he urged the BJP government to not mock the Parliament. An all-party meeting has been scheduled later today. The Monsoon session will have 19 sittings in both Houses starting from July 19, with 25 bills in the pipeline.

TMC urges BJP to not bulldoze legislation

Along with his tweet, he attached a graphic showing the steady decrease in number of bills being sent to Standing Committees in the last seven years. As per the data, the 14th Lok Sabha (UPA-1) had referred 60% of its bills to the Standing Committee while its successive Lok Sabha (UPA-1) had referred 71% of its bills. In contrast, the 16th Lok Sabha (Modi-1) and the current Lok Sabha (Modi-2) have referred only 25% and 11% of its bills for further scrutiny to a Standing Committee, as of December 2020. The source of the data is unknown. 

Earlier in 2019, the Bengal MP had wondered if the House was 'delivering pizzas or passing legislation', commenting on the speed with which bills have been passed in Parliament. "Parliament is supposed to scrutinize Bills. This chart explains the bulldozing this Session. Are we delivering pizzas or passing legislation?" he tweeted in July 2019.

Parliament's monsoon session

In the Monsoon session of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha has a heavy legislative agenda with the Union government listing 25 bills for consideration and passage. Apart from 17 new bills, the list includes 5 bills that will be tabled on the floor of the Upper House provided if they are cleared by the Lok Sabha. Some of the key legislation is the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill and The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill and Electricity (Amendment) Bill.

Three of the bills seek to replace ordinances issued recently. These include - The Essential Defence Service Bill, 2021, The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Bill, 2021 and The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2021. Once a session starts an ordinance has to be passed as a bill within 42 days or six weeks, else it lapses. The session will be held following social distancing norms from July 19 to August 13 with 19 days of business.